Is everyone else getting Grant Imahara staring at them from between post #1 and #2 of every thread? We never had banner ads here before and it just looks strange today.
I buy a lot of stuff from Mouser, so I see their banner ads everywhere. I just didn't need reminding from Arduino.cc.
The ads were added two months ago:
http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=573256.0
At that time, they were advertising the Arduino MKR boards. Now it seems they are either selling that ad space or perhaps using it as a perk for their partners. I see the Mouser ad also.
There are ways to hide it but I do think it's reasonable for Arduino to earn some income from the visitors to this site. That money can be used to pay for the costs of running this website and the salary of the developers whose work we all benefit from. I will say that I am not crazy about the the ad being interspersed with the forum thread. I suppose that forces people to look at the ad more often than they would if it was in a more traditional location.
Even the most simple ad blocker works for it.
SUch software can also speed up browsing by cutting out unwanted download of those simple ads.
Until I read this post I did not realize that the forum showed adverts. Have never seen them. 
I never see the on my computers (Firefox + AdBlock plus). I see them on my cellphones/tables but scroll so fast past them that I actually do not even know what they are about 
My PC browsers have as blockers installed but for my phone, I use Chrome.
It is a little galling that these ads are eating into my data allowance.
AWOL:
It is a little galling that these ads are eating into my data allowance.
Fair point.
On the positive side, they are (should be) cached so if they don't change too often it shouldn't be too much.
I have a 600MB limit; time to start looking for something for chrome.
Maybe the ads should only show for new/low users and after they have hit 500+ posts the ads disappear as by then they are probably giving more to the forum (Arduino.cc) than taking.